CHAPTER 60: [ HALO ]

The spriggan walked forward, its back turned to the giant tree behind it. It slowly made its way toward them, its fiery eyes staring at both of them.

Alexander remained still, while Fae slowly walked to the side.

He lifted his staff toward the boss.

In an instant, it launched the halo that levitated in its hand.

A rift opened in the ground. The tendril that came out intercepted the rotating halo, barely even slowing it down.

He could feel a chill through his back as he quickly ducked, his heightened vision allowing him to react just in time.

He could hear the halo ringing as it flew above his head. It sounded majestic, like a constant stroke on a violin.

He was about to get back up, his eyes lingering on the boss that still had its hand extended toward him.

On instinct, he activated the Will Breaker’s sight.

With the frenzied eyes blooming all over him, the ones in his back caught it right away.

The halo was coming back at full speed, Alexander threw himself sideways to dodge it.

It went back to the spriggan’s, who spun with the halo and threw it behind him.

Fae readied her blades, the halo coming at her full speed.

She hit it head-on, fire sparking around from the impact.

It bounced back to the boss’s palm, levitating inches above it.

Alexander nodded to himself.

He looked at Fae, concentrating on the Will Breaker’s sight.

Its secondary effect, what gave them so much trouble in his inner path.

In an instant they both traded place, the spriggan now facing Alexander instead of Fae.

He mask turned dark behind the boss, confirming once more what he already knew.

Out of sight the mask became abyssal black, her speed increasing even more than it was.

Alexander lifted his staff.

[ Sacrifice ]

Fae planted her feet in the ground, then dashed forward toward the fiery boss.

She broke the ground beneath her with each step as she approached the enemy, her body seemingly floating right above the ground.

She moved quickly and so close to the floor it was hard to follow, [ Witness of All Paths ] was the only reason he could keep up with her.

The spriggan threw the halo toward him, Alexander dodging it by running sideways.

He could feel his strength leaving him with every step, his energy leaving him with every breath.

The headache he felt only got worse, while the heat on sunder’s mark only became stronger.

He kept moving, careful not to trip over the giant roots as he tried his best dodging the halo.

The frantic eyes followed it like rabid dogs, it never left his sight.

When it missed him, the halo’s rim that rotated quickly hit the wall.

From the rotation of the halo, it picked up an insane amount of speed and rolled on the walls.

With a movement of its hand, it stopped running around the room and headed straight for him.

It was almost in slow motion for him.

In a split second he summoned a tendril that hit him sideways, making him tumble to the ground.

The halo’s trajectory slightly bended, going back toward the Spriggan’s hand.

Alexander could feel it, he had mostly lost fifty percent of his overall stats.

He felt sluggish, a lot slower than what he was moments ago.

He nodded slightly, Fae who remained on the move in the back of the boss finally sprinting toward him.

As she left the spriggan’s shadow to finally strike, it tried turning around, suddenly alerted by her presence.

It was too late, she jumped forward with her blades ready to cut its head clean off.

The halo hovering above its head suddenly expanded while tilting toward her blade.

Its rotational speed deflected her blade, sparks of fire flying out like water out of a hose.

It turned toward her, yet the spriggan’s eyes only met Alexander’s, whose place had been traded.

"Didn’t expect me?"

The ground ruptured with pure darkness within, letting the entity’s reach out once more. Its tendrils rose around the boss’s legs, trying to anchor it in place.

It quickly used the halo it held to slice the tendrils down, but a strike to its back pushed it forward in the same beat.

While the halo it held in its hand was for offense, the one on its head served strictly for defense.

The defensive halo had moved to deflect Fae’s strike to its back, yet it let her blade through.

Few sparks flew out, her blade had simply followed the motion of the halo—matching it.

Alexander’s shared sight was the only thing that allowed such a feat, matching her blade with the direction of the rotation, with a precise strike that was perfectly aligned with the halo.

Without waiting any further, she kept slicing at the boss whose defenses failed time after time.

Thin slits appeared after each strike on its body, it turned around trying to face her yet all it ever met was Alexander’s gaze.

He could feel the confusion of the monster as every time it turned, all it saw was Alexander.

It let go of the offensive halo, trying to use it defensively in a desperate measure.

Alexander’s face had a dark smile grow on it.

Now that it had given up on its only weapon in a desperate attempt, there was no more need to hold back on the remainder of his stats.

Like opening a dam that held an ocean, he let go of the tight grasp he had on [ Sacrifice ].

Strength left him, it felt as if something sucked his last breath.

Fae’s strike became faster and faster, the halos that moved to defend the spriggan unable to even keep up with her speed.

They couldn’t move in time, their reaction delayed by a split second.

Her moves were ruthless, the dents in its wooden body growing larger and deeper.

It kept trying to turn around, panicking each time it saw Alexander’s smile instead of Fae.

The spriggan’s eyes grew fiercer, the flames on its body and halo turning blue.

The giant tree suddenly ignited in a loud ’whoosh’ sound, its every branch on the ceiling now burning bright blue.

The sound the halos now made were like an ominous hymn, one that foreshadowed nearing doom.

"Fae," said Alexander.

She did a short jump, pushing against the ground with all her might, leaving a faint crater where her feet were.

She moved in an elegant fashion, her body one with her blades.

Her swords met the spriggan’s neck before its defenses could even react, severing its head clean off before it even used its new blue flames.

The head rolled across the scorched floor—its blue flames flickering, fading, and finally dying with a final hiss.

[ Level up! ]

[ Your stats have increased! ]

[ Your companions grow stronger! ]